Researchers and scientists have been trying to concoct a universal flu vaccine for decades, but hit a wall when trying to target the parts of the flu virus responsible for changing year to year, according to Science.
"Every year we learn that we know less and less about this virus," Martin Friede, PhD, a biochemist who coordinates the Initiative for Vaccine Research at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, told Science.
Seasonal vaccines are created to trigger an immune response to make antibodies against the top part of one protein of the influenza virus. Experimental universal flu vaccines instead aim to target the bottom of the protein, but fail to do so successfully.
Funding for continued research and development for a universal influenza vaccine has increased in recent years. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, located in Bethesda, Md., has allocated $160 million for its 2019 research budget. Two years ago the company only allocated $60 million for research. The NIAID will evaluate proposals for studying how influenza affects infants over the span of seven years.
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